Twilight awoke with a start as a jolt seemed to pass through her. Feeling an all-too familiar sensation on her flanks, a glance to her flashing Cutie Mark confirmed her suspicions. Rushing out of her bed to the Map in the castle throne room, she saw two familiar marks hovering near its center. Over the projection of Canterlot, she saw Rainbow Dash's Mark circle it, but it was in Ponyville where her mark hovered.
Concern rose in the Alicorn as she watched the marks over it. It had been nearly three years since the map had called on any of the Bearers to remedy a friendship problem, and it was incredibly rare for it to call on more then one problem at the same time. Not to mention that it never called for any of them on a problem in Ponyville or Canterlot. The sound of the main doors being tossed open caused her to immediately turn, where she saw a panting Spike lean on of them with a claw. The young Dragon had grown significantly over the years, now nearly as tall as Twilight herself.
"Twi-light!" He said between panting breaths, he had clearly rushed here all the way from town.
"Spike! What's going on? Has something happened in town?" The Alicorn asked.
"Giant... Robots!" He breathed, earning a look of confusion and a tilted head from the mare.
"What?"
"Giant robots!" He repeated as he slowly regained his composure. "They've attacked Ponyville and are holding the town hostage! I've also seen smoke rising from Canterlot!"
This is way more then just a friendship problem, Twilight realized, her face changing to one of seriousness. "Has anypony been hurt?"
Spike shook his head. "I don't think so, but they gathered many of the town's citizens to the center, right by the Main Hall. I also saw one of them fly towards Sweet Apple Acres!"
"They can fly? How big are they?"
"As big as a house, Twilight! And they've got a pair of cannons on their arms, they look like they could do some serious damage to the town."
Twilight nodded. "Then we better move fast! I'll go see what they want and keep the town safe, while you send a letter to Princess Celest-" She stopped and mentally cursed. "You said you saw smoke from Canterlot?"
Spike nodded. "I don't think Princess Celestia can send us any help. You think these guys attacked Canterlot too? What if it's an invasion!?" His eyes widened at the thought.
"We'll worry about that later," Twilight replied, cutting his, and her, fears off. "Right now, we have to focus on the well-being of the Ponies in town. I'll try to negotiate with these beings and see why they're acting so aggressively, you can stay here and catch your br-"
Spike huffed, his chest puffed out slightly. "I'm not such a little Dragon anymore, Twilight! I'll come and help too, this is my home after all and no giant robots are going to harm my friends while I'm around!"
Twilight smiled in an effort to hide her worry and nodded. "Alright, but hopefully we can avoid a fight, maybe we can help them out and they won't bother us or anyone else." However, something told the Alicorn Princess that wasn't going to be likely. "Let's go!" Her wings flaring open, she cantered out of the throne room, with Spike easily keeping pace with her.
As she rushed through the halls to the exit, several concerns arose in her mind. Giant, armed robots have come seemingly out of nowhere and taken the town hostage, and likely attacked Canterlot as well. She worried for the Princesses in the Capital, as well as Rainbow Dash, since the Map had shown she was needed in the city. With the Wonderbolt Academy currently not that far from Canterlot, she knew it would be no trouble for the brash Pegasus to notice trouble and rush to help. Well aware of her hot-headed nature, she hoped she wouldn't get into too much trouble, but every problem the Map has always called on the Pony perfect to solve it, if the Map showed that Rainbow was needed there, she could handle it. Still, the nagging fear remained. Approaching the main doors, she levitated them open and immediately flight, finally causing Spike to fall behind, still, the young Dragon continued running at full speed toward the town.
Immediately, Twilight saw four tall beings stick out among the surrounding buildings and the crowd of Ponies in the town square, with a fifth returning from the direction of the Apple Family Orchard. Her fear for Applejack and her family was one more concern added to the list.
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"You attack our capital city, harm our subjects without an explanation, and then you have the audacity to demand our surrender!?" Luna shouted at the robotic Starscream, who seemed only amused at the raising of spears and charging of horns from the many Royal Guardsponies that surrounded him and the comparatively tiny creature that stood on his shoulder. "I am one of the rulers of Equestria! I will not stand by while you attack us without warning or reason nor will I surrender myself or my kingdom to the likes of you!"
Starscream snickered, crossing his arms as he shook his head. "You puny organics really are the epitome of arrogance, aren't you? Thinking the entire universe was built to your specifications, ruling tiny lands like you ruled the stars themselves. How I truly enjoy showing how tiny and insignificant you all are against a being of True power!"
"Enough!" Luna shouted, her horn glowing and her wings extended in a threatening expression. "What do you want, aggressor!?"
Starscream sneered. "Rest assured, I do not want your pathetic little kingdom, your 'majesty'!"
"How dare you mock the Princess!" One of the Pegasi Guards shouted, making to lunge into the air and strike the robot's head, only for a purple energy blast to strike the ground inches from his hooves, the cement glowing and smoking from the impact.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Slipstream warned with an evil smirk, her Null Ray cannon smoking slightly as it remained pointing at the Royal Guard. "This is one of the most powerful and feared warriors of our kind, and the almighty and all-knowing, perfect leader of the Decepti-" She stopped when she suddenly burst out laughing, causing Starscream to glare at her in outrage.
"Nope!" Slipstream said with a shake of her head. "Couldn't say that with a straight face."
"Be quiet, you insolent defect!" Starscream shouted, grabbing the tiny Decepticon before she could react and slamming her into the hard floor with a loud crash, the cement shattering on impact, a shout of pain emanated from the briefly dazed robot.
"Ignore my scout." He said to the shocked lunar princess. "She is merely the result of a failed experiment and hardly the mightiest warrior I command."
"Tch!" Slipstream grumbled as she recovered herself, shooting warning glares at two nearby Guards as they pondered seizing her, she then turned her angry optics up at the taller Decepticon. "I'll enjoy seeing this backfire on you, Commander!" She all but spat the rank out as she transformed and flew off, her single purple jet screaming past two Pegasi, who found themselves nearly cleaved by her wings as they dived out of the way.
"Foolish brat." Starscream muttered as he watched her flee. "I'll deal with you later..."
It seems he does not have the respect of his troops Luna realized as her eyes followed the flying machine take to the skies. Knowing that she was far too fast for the armoured Guards to pursue and literally having bigger issues to deal with, she turned her gaze back at Starscream. "What do you want with us? And where are the rest of your soldiers?"
"As I said," the Decepticon answered, his hands raised in a non-threatening impression, yet his smirk belied the gesture. "I do not care for this insignificant planet for myself, my ambitions are far greater. But there is a resource you have that I want. My attack was but a sample of what I alone am capable of, while my warriors have seized the small town near this city."
Luna's eyes widened. Ponyville was being held hostage by the invaders! And she knew for a fact that not all of the Bearers of Harmony were in the town, and while Twilight's Alicorn magic was among the most impressive she had ever seen, she knew the mare was no fighter. Starscream continued, his right hand extending outward toward her.
"Hand over all the Energon your land possesses and my warriors and I shall leave you and the town in peace! Refuse, and the town will be incinerated." He clenched his hand to signify his might and his threat.
Princess Luna stared in shock as her fear grew. Ponyville and its citizens were likely helpless and at the invaders mercy, and their leader was making a demand for something she had never heard of. "What is this Energon you speak of? We have no such thing!"
Starscream frowned. "Don't try to fool me, organic! I know there is Energon on this world and it will be mine! I transmit one word to my warriors, and your town will be destroyed in an instant, so think very carefully on your next words!"
The Dark Alicorn seethed. This Starscream was convinced a resource she had never, in all her life or her time in catching up from her thousand year banishment, was under the kingdom's possession. And she had the feeling that he somehow had the ability to instantly communicate with his warriors and that his threat wasn't a mere bluff. His brief attack alone had done considerable damage to the city, who knows how many Ponies he had injured or killed? Yet, despite his bravado and arrogant dismissing of her and her guards, she could tell that he was ready for any sort of attack she would attempt. Even if he wasn't, she doubted any of their weapons and all but the most powerful offensive spells would have any effect on the alien. And she couldn't risk the citizens of Ponyville and her friends there. Sister, where are you?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Looks like you were right, Skywarp." Nacelle said as he hovered toward the Seekers, his white and silver body gleaming in the sunlight. In his hands were three struggling Ponies. "There were more organics by that farm."
With an amused snicker, he lightly tossed them among the other encircled Ponies. Lightly, by his standards, the three Ponies were all but slammed into the ground. However, the three Earth Ponies quickly recovered themselves, with hardly a scratch on them.
"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Apple Bloom called out, her red main grown significantly and tied into two pigtails, her tail had lost its fluffy look over the years and became simple and straight. A light brown vest covered her chest as she stared up in defiance at the amused Decepticon.
"Y'all think ya can just nab us and treat us like some old tools?" Applejack, though more reserved then her younger sister, showed her distaste clearly in her expression.
Nacelle shook his head, wondering how such organics expected to be treated with dignity, even when they literally stared at a superior being in the face. It would be funny if it wasn't so disgustingly pathetic.
"Any word from our Commander?" Nacelle asked the others, ignoring the angry Apples at his feet.
"Hey! We're talking to ya!" Apple Bloom shouted.
Thundercracker shook his head, paying no heed to the organic's whining, his arms crossed in impatience. "No, probably too busy demolishing the city." His hand moved in an almost lazy fashion, an extended thumb pointing to a smoking Canterlot. "Any excuse to let loose some missiles, huh?"
Several Ponies murmured to one another in fear as they too saw the smoke and heard the explosions. The three Apples turned and briefly forgot about their anger at the giant robots as their eyes widened at the sight.
"Sweet Celestia," Apple Bloom muttered, before she caught sight of two familiar faces. Making one quick glance at her siblings to make sure they were okay, she quietly made her way to them.
"Hmph," Skywarp grunted. "And to think all those stellar cycles ago, he told us to abandon our munitions in order to make escaping the Autobots easier."
"Should we really be surprised at this point?" Nova Storm asked, leaning on the town hall. "We've been under his command how long? A hundred Solar Cycles, at least. Sure, when everything goes according to plan, he can be a decent leader, but the moment things go wrong, he'd shoot our engines out and leave us to drift in space if it meant saving his own chassis."
"I can't believe I once had respect for the Con..." Ramjet commented, shaking his head.
While the five Seekers were grumbling to one another, Apple Bloom approached the two familiar mares.
"Pst! Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo." She whispered, immediately causing the other two Crusaders to face their longtime friend.
"Thank goodness you're okay." Sweetie Belle whispered, relief clear on the mare's face. Whereas Apple Bloom had long since stopped taking special care with her mane and tail, Sweetie Belle had taken the idea seriously, making sure to groom and care for her mane and tail every morning. Dressed in a stylish black coat, which was slightly ruffled from the Decepticons arrival. Pinned to the front of the coat was a teardrop-shaped crystal. Behind her were two small trembling fillies, her singing students.
"What the hay's going on?" Apple Bloom asked. "Who-what are those things?"
"Hay if I know." Scootaloo answered, her eyes constantly darting to the giant machines holding them hostage, ready to jump into action on a moment's notice. Of the three Crusaders, Scootaloo was the one who changed the least in her appearance, her purple mane having only grown slightly and still maintaining its ruffled, almost messy look. Her wings had grown beautifully over the years, but her condition still prevented her from properly flying. Despite this, the Pegasus kept up a vigorous exercising routine, causing her athletic look to be more pronounced as her body grew. "They just showed up and forcefully gathered us all at the town center, one of them smashed Silver's house as a threat. These guys look like they mean business."
"But why?" Apple Bloom asked. "What do they want?"
Neither of the Crusaders had an answer, Sweetie simply stared at her friend with a helpless look, while Scootaloo glared at the intruders. The two fillies clutched the hem of their teacher's coat, causing Sweetie to glance back at them with concern. "This could get very bad at any moment." She whispered. "We have to get the fillies and colts out of here."
"How?" Apple Bloom whispered back, with a nervous glance at the Decepticons. "If the kids are spotted tryin' to escape, they may get hurt or worse!"
"They don't seem too focused on us." Scootaloo said, her gaze shifting from one Seeker to the other.
Sweetie nodded in agreement, her head tilting towards a nearby alleyway. "And if we guide them to the alleyways, they'll be harder to spot and can make their way out of the town to Twilight's castle where they'll be safe."
Apple Bloom frowned. It was risky, if any of the invaders spotted them, the children would be in peril. But, if it worked, that would be one major fear of the populace removed, perhaps then she and the other Crusaders could rally the town to fight back. There was no way she was going to stand by and be threatened like this in her hometown and not do anything about it. First, though, they had to get the children out of harm's way and though the robotic giants were not paying close attention to the townsfolk, she wasn't confident that it was enough.
"Alright." She said, nodding. "But we need a distraction, something to get all of their attention."
Scootaloo immediately stopped looking at the robots and grinned at her friend, immediately giving the Earth Pony the impression that she already had a bold idea bordering on the suicidal. Before Scootaloo could voice her idea and Apple Bloom could protest it, several Ponies began shouting.
"Look! It's Princess Twilight!"
"Princess Twilight!"
"She'll know what to do!"
The three Crusaders, and the Decepticons, turned their attention towards the nearby Castle, where they saw a purple Alicorn flying towards them. Apple Bloom felt some relief, but not enough to ease her nervousness at the situation.
"Nova Storm!" Skywarp shouted upon the seeing the Pony fly in their direction. "I thought you said there were no lifeforms in that crystalline structure!"
Nova Storm quickly looked between the Seeker Lieutenant, and the new arrival, a panicked expression on his face. "I swear, my scanners didn't detect any organics in it!"
With a growl of disgust, Skywarp stepped ahead of the group, his cannons warming up just in case. Behind him, Thundercracker aimed his weapons at the Pony, with the rest watching her with close scrutiny. The Seekers had long since prided themselves on their aerial superiority, and any threats to their domination of the skies made them nervous.
"Don't fire just yet, Thundercracker." Skywarp warned. "We need to wait for Starscream's orders."
The proud warrior merely gave an incoherent mutter as an answer, long since lost his patience at playing sentry to a bunch of organics. His arm-mounted cannons remained trained on the Alicorn that approached, her wings flaring open as she stopped in the aid before them.
"I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, co-ruler of Equestria and the Princess of Magic and Friendship." The Alicorn introduced herself in a regal and neutral tone, her horn glowing as she glanced at them, noticing how similar they all looked, save for their colours on their metal forms. "Why have you attacked this town and taken its citizens hostage?"
Skywarp's optics narrowed as he examined the tiny organic. "So, this species has multiple leaders, huh? I'm Lieutenant Skywarp! Second-in-Command of the Decepticon Seekers!"
He raised his right hand, gesturing to the other warriors behind him. "We have seized this town by order of Air Commander Starscream, who is currently at your capital negotiating with your other leader. If he gets what he asks for, no harm will come to the town's inhabitants."
Twilight frowned, having already been told by Spike about the rising smoke and seeing it for herself. "Is this how you usually negotiate where you're from? Why act with such hostility towards us? We've done nothing to you."
Thundercracker scoffed. "The fact that you organics assume we are on equal terms is an insult to our pride as Decepticons! We take what we want because we are superior to you in every way while you are little more then diseased vermin! You should be thankful we're even tolerating your disgusting sight."
Twilight's horn brightened as she effortlessly fed more energy into it in preparation for a more powerful spell. "So it's the law of might with your kind, is it? Don't think I will allow this to continue any longer, release the town's inhabitants immediately!"
Skywarp chuckled and shook his head. "What can YOU do? You're unarmed, unarmoured, and we can, and will, annihilate these organics if you make so much as a move towards them."
Twilight gritted her teeth as she tried to think of a solution to this predicament. She was ready to use an assortment of spells in her mental arsenal, but the only one that she could instantly use on all of them was her stasis spell, but she couldn't do anything else besides holding them until her stamina gave out, she wasn't confident that she could hold all five of them long enough for the townsfolk to make their escape, especially if they tried to resist. Her assault spell may damage and incapacitate one of them, but that was little better since it left the other four to immediately attack the helpless Ponies, and she rarely practiced the spell, leaving her aim something to be desired. Even if the town wasn't in jeopardy, she was not at all sure she could win a battle against even two of them, nevermind five, but that was the least of her worries, all things considered.
Apple Bloom, seeing that things were about to heat up and that all of the Decepticons attention was fully focused on Twilight, gestured to her two friends and at the alleyway. They both nodded, with Sweetie silently guiding her two students towards it, while Scootaloo made silent gestures to their old teacher, Mrs. Cheerilee, who had most of the other colts and fillies around her. The farm Pony went to her older sister and brother, glancing around for something, anything, that could help them fight against them. Upon seeing supply crates that were tightly held together by long strings of rope, her heart leaped. It may not be much, but if there was one thing everypony in Equestria knew, it was that you don't mess with an Apple with a rope.
"What is it that you want?" Twilight asked, hoping to keep them talking while she tried to figure a way to solve this.
"Simple," Skywarp replied. "We want your planet's Energon. We've detected your cities using it as a power source, if your leaders give us the Energon, then no harm will come to you."
Twilight blinked in confusion. Energon? What in Equestria was that? "Our cities are powered by a combination of Unicorn, Pegasi, and Solar magic, which is unique to each individual city. Whatever this Energon is, we don't have it."
"You're not the first organics to try and fool us with that nonsense!" Thundercracker snapped, his cannons humming dangerously. "Our scanners have read the Energon surging in this landmass, it's here and in abundance."
As the tension rose between the Princess and the Decepticons, Sweetie Belle nervously kept glancing at the Seekers, praying that none of them looked even slightly in her direction as she herded her two students between the two houses. Just as they got in, Sweetie breathed a mental sigh of relief as she saw the Seekers were still far too focused on Twilight to notice, even as Mrs. Cheerilee guided the rest of the students towards her, with the nervous parents doing their best to act as a visual shield. She'd guide them to Twilight's Castle, where'd they hopefully be safe until the situation was resolved. However, no sooner had her hopes raised were they dashed when she heard a far too alien sound, like a series of clicks and clanks ringing at a fast pace, came above her. Immediately grabbing the two fillies with her magic and pulling them behind her, just as a metallic being nearly as tall as her slammed into the spot where the fillies stood, immediately the fillies screamed in shock and fear as this new arrival recovered, purple eyes and a smirk facing the Unicorn.
Although this alien was far sleeker then the bulky armoured giants beyond, the robot had the same purple insignia on her wing tips.
"Who said you could leave, organics?" Came a feminine voice from the Decepticon, her right arm raised to her chest, and a bright purple scythe-like blade of pure energy erupted from her forearm.
"Keep away from them!" Sweetie Belle shouted, no longer bothering with stealth as her horn charged.
"Oh?" In response, the Decepticon lunged forward, the energy blade sweeping in wide arc. With a yelp, Sweetie Belle jumped back, the tip of the blade barely missing its mark, before striking the wall next to her, passing through the brick wall like it wasn't even there, leaving a burning trail behind it. Pulling the two fillies with her, Sweetie Belle backed away into the open square once again, with the smiling Seeker readying for another taunting strike. "Please try, I've been hoping for a decent challenge-"
Suddenly, an orange form pounced her from above, forehooves slamming into her face, sending her stumbling back into the corner of a house.
"You've got one, freak!" Scootaloo shouted.
Twilight's horn glowed brighter in response to Skywarp's reply. "I'm telling you, we don't have any of this-huh?" She stopped when she heard the shouts of scared fillies, glancing at the surrounded Ponies, she instantly recognized Sweetie Belle backing away from a Pony-sized robot, a purple blade glowing menacingly on its arm. Then, she saw an orange blur dart around the side, pouncing the robot with a shout and a loud crash as she slammed into one of the walls. This also caught the attention of the Seekers, most of which turned to the commotion.
"What is-?" Skywarp asked as he turned, but was interrupted when Thundercracker opened fire on the Alicorn, green bursts of plasma energy zooming out towards the Princess who, with a shocked gasp, immediately casted a forcefield spell around her. There was flash of light as the plasma struck her shield, dissipating most of lethal energy, but the power of the attack was far stronger then she expected, shattering the shield and sending the Princess smashing into the ground.
"That's enough negotiating!" Thundercracker shouted. "Kill the hostages!"
Nacelle immediately raised his cannons at the Ponies, many of whom screamed as they saw their death approaching. The cannons activated with a threatening hum, before suddenly the sound seemed to slow and fade. Nacelle's optics widened. "Uh-oh."
Ramjet and Nova Storm were met with similar results while Skywarp ran a diagnostic, only to find his worst fear confirmed. "We're too low on energy, our cannons are useless!"
"Well," Applejack said amongst the murmurs from the townsfolk as they realized their captors were not as dangerous as they thought, tossing the end of the length of rope to her brother. "Ain't that something." With a nod to Big Mac, the two cantered at full speed toward Nacelle, moving towards him as he watched in puzzlement, raising his arms as he tried to get a shot at crushing them with his bare hands.
The two Apple siblings, however, moved with impressive speed as they quickly wrapped the long rope around, before pulling with all their strength.
"You really think you can bring me down with mere-wha-AAAAHH!" With a surprised cry, Nacelle found his legs bound against his will, losing his balance and falling face first into the ground.
"C'MON PONYVILLE!" Applejack shouted. "LET'S GET 'EM!"
And from there, all Tartarus broke loose.
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From the moment Celestia heard the unnatural rumblings outside and the screams that followed, she quickened her pace to a near-canter through the corridor. As she turned around a bend, she noticed a distinct lack of Royal Guards, a further sign that the city had come under attack, a pair of servants, an Earth Pony and a Unicorn rushed through one of the doors and the Princess immediately approached them. The two quickly stopped and bowed.
"Princess! The city-"
"Who's attacking us?" Celestia cut them off.
The two glanced at one another, Celestia could see the fear in their eyes. "We don't know, your majesty!" The Earth Pony said.
"Some kind of monstrous machine!" The Unicorn added.
Celestia blinked. "A machine?"
"It was huge!" The Unicorn continued. "As big as a house! It was made entirely of metal, but it moved and acted like a living thing! It's out in the garden, surrounded by the guards and Princess Luna, but it doesn't seem scared at all."
Deep down, something about their description of the attacker unsettled Celestia in a way she had never experienced before. Like some looming terror was just barely grasping at her heart, and yet her chest felt unnaturally hollow, her breathing picked up ever so slightly... She pushed the thoughts aside. "Make your way to safety, I will deal with the invader."
The servants bowed and continued fleeing, while Celestia made her way up a flight of nearby stairs, the Gardens were not far, and if the invader was already surrounded, a view from one of the towers would provide her with all the information she needed, as well as a quick avenue of attack should things turn for the worse. Again, the raw primal fear returned, a fear that caused her to tremble slightly as she made her way up the steps. What was going on with her? She had felt fear before, and terror, but this was different, it made her almost feel like... like she was a little filly... Finally, she made her way to the top, flinging aside the balcony doors with her magic, she felt a cool breeze and was hit with the smell of smoke from the damage done from the attack. The anger that rose in her from seeing the results of the attack eased the strange fear that was rising in her, and she turned her attention to the garden below here, where she could see her sister and the dozens of golden-armoured Ponies surrounding the invader. True to the servants' description, it was indeed alien, yet not completely unfamiliar. Then, she saw the mark on its wingtips, a mark that bore an all too striking resemblance to a face, a face she had forgotten and still could not remember, yet she knew she had seen it before.
Suddenly, she was no longer a Princess, she was no longer an Alicorn that had seen over a thousand years and had control over the very sun that gave light to the world. No, she was a terrified filly, shaking and staring at the face of malice incarnate as reality and forgotten memories merged together. The smell of the smoke was now overpowering, she could hear the flames burning right next to her, the sky had turned dark and red. And there, standing before the invader, was her tiny little sister. Now, her fear was for Luna's safety.
Not her, not her too. She began madly thinking. You can't take her too, she's all I have left!
Her horn began glowing brightly as she applied power into it, her teeth gritting together in determination. I won't let you take her! I won't I won't I won't! With a flair of her wings and a blinding orb of light shining from her heart, she unleashed her Solar Fury.
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"How do you know that we even possess this 'Energon'?" Luna asked.
"The scans from my scout and I clearly showed that this planet, in particular this landmass, has a large supply of Energon. Combined with the fact that many of your cities are using Energon as a power source shows that you somehow have learned to refine it in a usable state. You will relinquish all the Energon, refined and otherwise, to us and any Decepticons that will arrive here."
Luna blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I intend to use this landmass as a base of operations while I gather all the Decepticons to form a New Empire to conquer the stars, with me as the new leader!" Starscream shouted, his optics shining brighter. It was clear this a longtime goal of his.
"You said you had no interest in our land!" Luna exclaimed.
"I don't." Starscream simply replied with a sneer. "That doesn't I don't have need for it. I will make use of this planet and its Energon and you will not intervene, for the sake of your species! Are we clear?"
Luna growled. "If you think that I will just let you threaten my subjects, then you clearly have no idea who you're threatening! My sister and I shall-"
She was interrupted by a blinding beam of golden light that pierced through the Decepticon, who gave a blood-chilling scream of agony. Luna, and all the Royal Guards, shielded their eyes from the blinding light and stepped back from the intense heat. A second later, the heat and light died down, and Luna lowered her wing from her eyes to see Starscream still there, a hole in his torso, jagged and melted pieces of metal surrounding the damage. The ground around him glowed a bright orange, the nearby plants were gone, only black soot remained. Slowly, Starscream raised a trembling hand over the wound. "W-who-" He stuttered. His answer came in the form of white Alicorn, who smashed into the glowing ground in front of Luna, sending a shock wave that sent all the Guards stumbling back, some falling over the force of the landing. And when she opened her eyes, they briefly glowed white, before revealing eyes that showed pure rage and fear swirling for control.
"S-Sister!?" Luna stuttered out, but she seemed not hear her.
"BEGONE, CREATURE!" Roared the Solar Alicorn, her horn charging up once again. Luna could feel the sheer power she was drawing in, feel her channeling the very energy from the sun to boost her attack.
"Sister, no!" She cried out. "You'll destroy the city!"
Again, though, she did not seem to hear her.
Gone was Starscream's victorious grin and demeaning attitude, now he showed open terror at the unknown attack. Desperately, he raised his left arm, firing his Null Ray at the Alicorn, the purple ray lunging at her, only to dissipate from a golden shield that surrounded her. "N-no! Get Away!" Stumbling back, he felt his feet teetering on the edge. In a panic, and with a final yelp, he jumped off, transforming to his Jet Mode. This time the sound of servos changing and internal mechanism rearranging themselves sounded disjointed and crackled. There were several additional clangs and a few pieces of him fell from his exposed wound. With a scream of pain, Starscream ignited his engines and fled, flying a full speed away from the city, and away from the thing that mercilessly attacked him.
Upon seeing him flee, Celestia's horn quieted down, her spell harmlessly dissipating. Causing Luna to breath a sigh of relief before she quickly remembered the alien's threat. Turning toward the shocked Guards, she pointed to a lIeutenant. "Gather a detachment and make for the town of Ponyville, post-haste! Do everything you can to aid Princess Twilight Sparkle against the invaders!"
Despite all that had happened, the Guard saluted and quickly ran off, followed by a substantial number of the Guards around. Luna turned to the others. "Move out to establish order in the city, we need to calm the populace and assess the damage as quickly as possible!"
"Yes, your highness!" One of the Guards said as they regained their composure and quickly moved to the exits, leaving the two Princesses alone.
Luna slowly turned towards her sister, and found her sitting. And shaking. "Sister?"
Walking around, careful not to step on any hot spots from the rapidly cooling ground, and saw tears trailing down her face, eyes wide and staring at nothing. Hesitantly, Luna raised a hoof, lightly touching her heaving chest. "Sister, what's wrong?"
At her touch and voice, Celestia seemed to at least partially awaken to the world, slowly turning to look at Luna. She blinked a few times, as if having trouble believing she was there. "L-Luna?"
"What's wrong?" The lunar princess repeated, her own fear growing.
Celestia simply shook her head, the tears still falling from her wide eyes. "I-I... I couldn't-I can't-I-" From there, she began repeating herself as she shut herself from the world around her, leaving Luna confused and frightened for her sister. Never before had she seen the mare who had been an integral part of her life this vulnerable, this... Broken. Her big sister, who had practically raised her in the place of the parents she had never known all those centuries ago, stood beside her against Sombra, Discord, and many other threats, who had waited patiently for her to return from her banishment to the Moon. Now, here she sat, trembling, broken. And Luna had no idea what to do, save for one thing. Wrapping a wing around her, Luna carefully guided her sister inside. Thankfully, Celestia did not resist and almost mindlessly followed her into the palace.
"I can't I can't I can't-" She repeated over and over.
"Shhh" Luna said in her most soothing voice. "It's alright, sister, I'm here."
Canterlot was attacked, Ponyville was held hostage, and Starscream was on the loose, but none of that seemed as important, as terrifying to Luna, as her sister's strange ailment. I can only hope Twilight and the Guard reinforcements are able to save the town.
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The intense pain was slowing Starscream considerably, blue glowing liquid leaked out in droplets from his exposed wound, as what little Energon remained was fed into the engines. Almost as intense as the pain was his anger. How could a simple, unarmoured organic do such damage to me!? What kind of creatures are they to be capable of such an attack? he silently seethed. With Megatron gone, I'm supposed to be the greatest Decepticon! How can I bested by organics twice! First that Techno-Organic freak, now that Equine!? What's next!?
That was when a rainbow blur smashed into his exposed circuitry, causing searing agony to spread throughout the Decepticon. With a cry of pain, Starscream spun out of control towards the ground, quickly transforming (only adding more to the agony) and landing hard onto the dirt ground. "WHO DARES ATTACK THE MIGHTY STARSCREAM!?" He shouted, using his pain to fuel his indignant rage.
Landing not too far ahead of him in a cloud of dust, was a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, glaring at him unafraid, much to his annoyance. "Only a pissed off Wonderbolt about to turn you into scrap metal!"